Page 28 of Mad Max

The sister has lowered the chair till it’s almost on the ground and is rolling from one place to the next. But when she comes to me, she hands me a blanket. I take it with a raised eyebrow, and she just rolls away to be by the vet, who looks up to face Casper once more.

“Well, it looks like the bullet went through all the way but did some damage. I’m going to have to open the wound to see what’s causing all the blood. Pretty sure he didn’t get hit in the femoral artery.”

“How do you know that?” Kooper asks as he leans against another cabinet on the other side of the room.

“You’d have gone to the morgue before now if that was the case.” She grabs a scalpel off a tray.

Her dry humor makes Casper chuckle, and I know I’ve pegged him right for wanting this woman.

“Fuuuck! You got any meds for this shit, Doc? That fucking hurts,” Domino howls as the blade begins slicing his leg open.

“Stop bitching, and don’t call me ‘Doc.’ ‘Vet’ is fine. As I previously mentioned, this is a vet clinic, not a hospital. I don’t want to use the shit I use on my patients till it’s absolutely necessary. Last thing I want to worry about is you having a reaction that causes heart failure on my table. Pretty sure your friend over there will just think I tried to kill you on purpose or something.”

“No”—Casper puts the gun behind his back in his jeans—“I won’t.”

Vet looks him over for a second longer than is normal before nodding. “Penny, get me some xylazine, and wash up. I need you to help me on this.”

“Think that’s a good idea?” Casper eyes the sister, like we all do. Something’s off about her, but I got no clue what it is. It’s like she’s a child but quiet and missing a few screws.

“Penny usually assists me in surgeries. If you don’t want her to help, then I’m out too. Pick your poison.”

I wrap the blanket around Cheyanne and rub her arms. The shakes are coursing through her body, and I hear the distinct sound of teeth chattering even as she tries to keep her lips closed.

“Did you know it’s harder to become a vet than a doctor? While some might think doctors have the hardest schooling, it’s vets who have to pass three tests with high scores while doctors only have to take one. Some might even say vets are superior to regular doctors.”

I find it hard to keep a straight face as Fairy babbles away. Not sure if the silence from the others is because they don’t really know what to do with the random bit of trivia she just gave us or if no one even heard her and they’re doing their own thing. I’ve only got eyes on her, my back to the rest of the room as I try to warm her up.

Casper coughs a second before talking. “Whatever. Just help him. Our normal doc is out of town, and he wouldn’t make it if we tried to take him on the bikes.”

Vet shakes her head. “Definitely don’t recommend riding like this. Clamps, Penny.”

I look over my shoulder then to see the vet in full gear doing whatever shit she needs to do to help my brother out. Her sister Penny looks funny as hell in gloves clear up to her shoulders. Think those are the type generally reserved for dealing with horse births or some shit. The vet doesn’t have them, so I think it’s just Penny being… well, Penny.

“You got a name, Vet?” Casper asks.

“Yup.”

I snort as I turn back to see Fairy watching the chatter between the club’s enforcer and the woman who’s running the show. I chance a glance at Kooper to see if he’s also amused by this, but the bastard looks asleep: head tilted back on the wall, eyes closed, mouth even partially open. Wouldn’t be surprised if he starts snoring soon with how his chest is moving.

“You going to share it?”

“You first. I’m not the one who barged in and demanded medical treatment at one in the morning. You threated me and my sister and didn’t even bother to ask to see what we would say.”

“You really expect me to believe you would have just done all this if I’d asked nicely?” Casper says with clear annoyance.

“Guess we’ll never know now, will we?” Her voice travels around the room, but her tone never changes. She’s probably elbows-deep in Domino’s leg, but she doesn’t seem to have a problem holding her own against Casper.

Penny starts to laugh and doesn’t stop for a good five minutes as the rest of us just watch them work on Domino. Not sure if he’s even mentally here, as his eyes are open and staring at the ceiling. Whatever they gave him must be working, ’cause he ain’t moving much.

Fairy adjusts, and it takes me a second to figure out why till she leans into my chest and rests the side of her face on my pecs. I move closer to ease the pressure on her neck as I hold her.

I swear to Christ, I can feel Casper’s eyes on me, but he stays quiet.

I don’t know what I’m doing, so even if he asked, I couldn’t tell him. Part of me feels a need to protect this fairy. Not sure if it’s because of the sex or my connection to her uncle. I was in prison for a long-ass time. My loyalty to the Hounds never wavered, but it widened to allow a few others in. One being Jimmy Travis.

He didn’t have many rules, but one was always known: don’t fuck with his niece. When she came in, everyone knew who she was, even if no one laid eyes on her. We did that out of respect for Travis. No one could use her against him if we didn’t recognize her. He claimed she was innocent last we spoke, but the guy has been locked up for a long time. Who knows if he knows her at all anymore.

Once we get back to the club, Flint will have a full dossier on her. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why he’s quiet now, too busy tracking down each lead to figure out the players tonight. Her being one of the many.

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